“It’s very disappointing… the needs of our lower- and moderate-income residents are real and persistent,” he said. “The needs are very real in the community.” About 40 percent of students at the town schools are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, according to latest numbers from the School Department.

In 2006, town officials were notified that Amherst was no longer in the running for the block grant because program criteria had changed, but a year later they were told that it would be eligible to apply for funding after all.

Amherst has received up to $1 million in block grant funding in recent years, but in the last two years the amount was reduced to $900,000.

The town has used the money to provide tuition assistance to families for after-school programs, for down payments for first-time homebuyers, for paying much of the operation of the emergency winter shelter, and for contributions to such programs as the Center for New Americans and the Amherst Survival Center.